Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

O Muslims, worshippers, believers, and doers of good! We thank Allah (swt) for His favors and His generosity and we pray on the best of men who came with verses and examples.

O Brothers and Sisters in Islam! It is not easy to speak; it is very difficult to speak to the heart. You go to a doctor to check what kind of sickness or disease you have. That doctor then checks you, makes a diagnosis and gives you the proper medicine. Similarly, the speaker has to know what everyone in this big masjid or clinic has, in order to give the proper medicine that can heal the patients.

Allah (swt) favored Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and gave him dignity. He raised and praised Prophet (s), and gave him what makes him happy. Allah (swt) sent him as Rahmatan li 'l-`Alameen, Mercy to all the worlds. He made him infallible, ma`soom, dressed him with all the best characters, and sent him as the role model for all humanity. And He ordered us, “If you love Me, follow Muhammad (s); the role model and the one with the best of characters.”

But “best” is not sufficient to describe the perfection of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Prophet (s) said, “You have to follow me in order to reach Allah (swt).” Why did Sahaabah (r) follow the Prophet (s)? Because they wanted to reach the reality of this perfection that Allah bestowed on Sayyidina Muhammad (s), in order to enter into the Divine Presence. They wanted to be in that reality of:

فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍ

fee maq`adi sidqin `inda maleekin muqtadir;

In an Assembly of Truth, in the Presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent. (al-Qamar, 54:55)

That is the Seat, the Throne, the Just Chair. You will be given the Just Place, where your name is written, like under government protocol you must sit in your specified, reserved place where your name is written. Similarly, the followers of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) have their assigned places and chairs which are ready at any moment.

The chair that Allah (swt) gives you depends on how many sujood, prostrations, you have made in your life. As we said last time, `ibaadah is to make sujood. So if you have made many sujood, your chair will be in the front. For example, if you make one sajda in this masjid, Allah (swt) will send angels to make sajda with you at that same place. The evidence of this is that you have two angels always with you, on your right and left, so when you make sajda, they make sajda with you. An angel's sajda is not like ours because they are ma`soom, infallible. But our sajda is mixed like a soup, with sins and many other things. So where you make a sajda, that soil is going to witness for you that at that moment and precise place on Earth you made a sajda in this masjid!

Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an, “On the Day of Judgment, human beings’ bodies will witness on them all what they have done.” We made sajda in jama`ah, with our two angels. So we say to Allah, “O Allah! Reward us more than once, because we made sajda in jama`ah with these angels who have no sins.” What then do you think about the reward that Allah will give you? It is beyond description! And when you make sajda in one place, after one minute it will be in a different place. With each passing hour, the place of that sajda will move. Why? Because the Earth is constantly in motion revolving around the sun, so as the Earth turns, that place of sajda changes. For example, if you made sajda at Maghrib time with the two angels, that place is also changing and the new place will bear witness for you that you made sajda there.

Every salaat is in a different place because as Earth is moving around the sun, changing places. So every prayer in your life is making sajda to Allah (swt) and no one but Allah knows where these sujood have been made. The whole solar system is also moving in space with the speed of 300,000 kilometers, which means your sajda is everywhere in this universe! Where your chair will be depends on how many sujood you have made to cover this universe, from the time Allah (swt) created you to the time you die.

Islam is not only the five pillars; it consists of knowledge together with the five pillars and six pillars of imaan and one pillar of ihsaan. Allah (swt) says:

So they found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our Presence. (al-Kahf, 18:65)

For example, one person here now was reciting qasidas in one place, and as the Earth moves around the Sun, this qasida will never stop because sound never stops; it is composed of electromagnetic waves that are moving. If I say here, “Allah,” it continues moving all the way to the people back there, because of the microphone system, but Allah has a heavenly microphone, the angels that are reporting to Him that I said, “Allah.” Their heavenly microphone will keep saying, “Allah, Allah,” from here to no end, because the Prophet (s) mentioned, “When the angels see a group of people praising Allah, they join them and make dhikr with them,” and this never stops, until the Day of Judgment.

So when someone is praising Allah (swt) or Prophet (s), or praying, or saying “Allah,” that sound and its energy never dies. If you say “Allah” in front of a computer and press a key, it will keep repeating. If the computer is repeating, then isn’t our body also repeating that? Angels will repeat, “Allah, Allah” until the Day of Judgment. The same way mureeds were just praising here just now: the whole universe heard them as they are on Earth, which is moving, and all of Allah’s (swt) Creation is hearing it until this whole universe hears it! The repetition of Allah’s Words can be heard; that is why jinn heard the Qur’an:

Say, “It has been revealed to me that a company of jinns listened (to the Qur'an). They said, 'We have really heard a wonderful recital! It gives guidance to the right, and we have believed therein. We shall not join (in worship) any (gods) with our Lord.’” (al-Jinn, 72:1-2)

So the prayers you are making here in the masjid, in your house or on the street will be a guidance for others in the Unseen universe that Allah (swt) is The All-Seeing and The All-Knowing.

The circumference of this Earth is 40,000 kilometers. It rotates once every 24 hours, which is calculated to be 86,400 seconds. If you divide 40,000 by 86,400 you get an estimate of 0.5 kmps, the distance in which Earth revolves around its axis in one second. So if I am praying at a certain place, with every second it is as if I prayed 0.5 kilometers further down because our prayers are moving 0.5 kilometers down every time we pray!

Allah (swt) ordered us to pray five times a day and there are also five pillars in Islam; both are equal. Why? It is for our benefit, so with our five pillars we can cover this Earth and at every moment continually perform our obligations so Allah (swt) bestows us with continuous rewards. So do not miss one prayer or else your chair will be moved back! Every time you miss a prayer or a fast, your chair will get moved back until it goes all the way to Hellfire, but if you move forward, it will be towards Paradise. Therefore, make your choice: do you want dunya or akhirah?

There are five pillars in Islam, the first being shahaadah. Why is it first, not second or third? Because first you have to accept that Allah is One, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah. When we accept, then we come to `ibaadah, our prayers. When you do your `ibaadah, then Allah (swt) wants us to help those who are in need, so zakaat came third. He wants us to feel for those who are hungry and that’s why He ordered us to fast in Ramadan. When you have completed your Islam, Allah wants you to wrap it in a nice package; that is why He ordered you to make Hajj, because in Hajj you have shahaadah, salaat, zakaat and even sawm (if you are doing hajj mufrad). So Allah (swt) ordered Hajj to be the fifth pillar so you can put all the other pillars inside and it gave you a certain routine to follow.

Don’t come against the country. We are in peace here. Look at Arab countries: in one day they killed 250 people! We are here in peace and safety, so pray for your rulers. Thank Allah for your peaceful country. You have a nice country! Look at other places where they are killing their people. Here, your government is looking after you, so may Allah bless the authorities. You have a nice place to sleep, and they are not sleeping because they are worried they might make a mistake, so pray for them.